Pacers’ rolling as NBA season winds down
[Indianapolis, IN]- The Indiana Pacers are in prime position to earn home court advantage.
The Pacers are just one win, or one Atlanta Hawks loss, away from playing on their home court in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
It was a wild March for Indiana, filled with come from behind wins and late go-ahead buckets. Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle made his weekly stop on the Fan Morning Show after Monday’s win over the Sacramento Kings.
“I expect these games to difficult; I expect them to be close,” Coach Carlisle said about the close games late in the season, “If you expect those kinds of outcomes and those kinds of situations, you’re not surprised. This is fine because why you’d like to have easy wins this time of year, this kind of activity is good preparation for playoffs.”
Over the seventeen games the Pacers played last month, Indiana won eleven. Five of those games were decided by three points or less.
Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner’s status is still up in the air for Wednesday night’s game against Charlotte.
“I sure hope we have them available with the Pacer ecosystem, we’re much better when we have all of our pieces.” Coach Carlisle said.
Carlisle also touched on the fatigue of Pascal Siakam.
“This time of year, right now, you’re looking to keep minutes reasonable,” Carlisle said, “That helps a little bit. If you’re asking if I want to get him a game off, I’d love to. I just don’t see where we can do that in this particular moment.”
Indiana is two games ahead of Detroit, who hold the fifth seed in the NBA Playoffs. If the playoffs started today, the Pacers would host the Pistons in the opening round.
The Pacers have tonight off but will be back Wednesday night when the Charlotte Hornets come to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM Eastern.
Hear the full conversation with Coach Rick Carlisle:
